Big City Angling, Chicago Style
Union Sportsmen's Alliance 03.27.12
My love for fishing had a little different start than most. It wasn’t passed on to me by my grandfather or father or something that my friends were into. After all, we lived in the city and in order to fish you had to get on a CTA bus with all your gear and take a 30 minute ride to the lagoon. My start was actually a culmination of natural curiosity and my mom finally taking pity on me.
Growing up in Chicago, my first fishing pole consisted of a stick, string and a bent paperclip with some rolled up bread on the end, but that didn’t stop me. Over the years my fishing expertise has come a long way. I continue to learn by trial and error, magazine articles, and of course from fishing show pros like Blair Wiggins, Tom Ackerman and Peter Miller. Like every avid angler I have developed favorites, from fishing hot spots, to techniques, to lures.
With fishing season just around the corner, I hope you’ll join me at some of my favorite fishing locations and help pass on this invaluable tradition to a future generation of big-city anglers!
Where to fish:
Five Favorite Fishing Locations in the Chicago Area:
- Lake Heidecke (Walleye, Bass, Stripers)
- Tampeir Lake (Bass, Pan Fish, Catfish)
- Lake Michigan 95th Street Bridge (Perch)
- Liberty Square Pond (Bass, Pan Fish, Kid Friendly)
- Marquette Park Lagoon (Spent a lot of time here as a kid)
Five Favorite Fishing Locations within a 2 Hour Drive of Chicago:
- Lake Michigan Pastrick Marina, IN (Salmon & Trout)
- Paw Paw Lake Coloma, MI (Bass & Pan Fish)
- New Buffalo Harbor, MI (Salmon &Trout)
- Lake Geneva, WI (Bass, Perch, Pan Fish)
- Twin Lakes, WI (Where it all began)
What to use:
Five Favorite Lures for Big-City Fishing:
- Heddon Torpedo
- Dardevle Spoon
- Zara Spook
- Rooster Tail
- Rapala Shad Rap
Dan McNally is member of the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance and United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 597. On Thursday, March 29 at 7 p.m. he’ll appear with two of his union brothers on a Lake Michigan fishing episode on the award-winning TV show, Brotherhood Outdoors, which airs on Xfinity channels 416 and 554 or HD channel 252 in Chicago. For more information, visit http://www.BrotherhoodOutdoors.TV.
The Union Sportsmen’s Alliance (USA) is a union-dedicated outdoor organization whose members hunt, fish, shoot and volunteer their skills for conservation. The USA is uniting the Union community to expand and improve hunting and fishing access and wildlife habitat throughout North America. For more information, visit www.unionsportsmen.org or www.facebook.com/unionsportsmen.
